Over recent years, emerging markets, particularly in Asia, have been the global economic growth leader and are expected to play a more important role in the future (Sharma, Dixit and Karna, 2016). Such amazing growth is mainly supported by the business sectors. In recent years firms in Asian emerging economies have increased their share of the world’s exports and foreign investment. Simultaneously, Asian emerging markets have also attracted businesses and investment from all around the world. Despite euphoria about the promise of these Asian markets, studies have raised doubts about the sustainability of business growth in Asia in the absence of social/economic equality which has worsened during last two decades in this region (Aoyagi and Ganelli, 2015). The implication is that—to be sustainable—business growth ought to be inclusive in its purview, for example by including the Bottom of the Pyramid segment. This Special issue attempts to bridge the current divide between business growth and a general lack of social/economic inclusiveness in Asian emerging markets. A fusion of these topics would generate deeper insights into both business as well as social/economic growth in the context of Asian economies.

ILLUSTRATIVE RESEARCH QUESTIONS

We invite scholars worldwide to further examine the ‘Inclusive business growth’ theme and contribute to this current and relevant inquiry from a variety of theoretical, methodological, and inter-or multi-disciplinary lenses. Both single-country and cross-country studies are welcome. The following Special Issue themes/broad research questions are illustrative:

1.Economic Institutions and Inclusive Growth: How do home-country and host-country institutions contribute to (or retard) business growth, and what are the dominant mechanisms through which they do so (North 1990)? Why—and how—do these institutions facilitate growth for some businesses but not for other businesses (Cherchye and Verriest, 2016)? Are there ‘necessary’ and/or ‘sufficient’ institutional conditions for such growth, and what are they and how do their thresholds vary across countries (La Porta, Lopez-de-Silanes, Shleifer, and Vishny, 1999; Robinson, Acemoglu, and Johnson, 2005; Acemoglu and Robinson, 2010)? What role do ‘global’ institutions play vis-à-vis growth and how do these institutions co-mingle with ‘domestic’ institutions? How might the very nature of domestic and/or global institutions change with inclusive growth (Stiglitz, 2016)?

2.Macro-Level Considerations and Inclusive Growth: What role do macro-level factors (e.g., economic and monetary policies) play in facilitating (or hindering) business growth (Trinugroho et al., 2015)? Which type(s) of macro-level conditions are most conducive to ‘inclusive’ growth, and do they play a direct or an indirect role? How do these factors influence the competitive advantage of local, regional and multinational firms? When, why, and how are some firms able to better leverage/navigate the generally dynamic nature of macro-level policies in Asia? How, if at all, have macro-level factors contributed to mutually-beneficial public-private partnerships (Mota and Moriera, 2015)? How, if at all, has the intrinsic nature of Asian economies evolved with powerful business groups or family-owned firms (Dieleman and Sachs 2008; Dieleman 2010)?

3.Micro-Level Considerations and Inclusive Growth: How are companies operating in Asia addressing a need for social/economic inclusion (Herrera, 2016)? Do CSR agendas contribute to business growth in the Asian context? What role(s) do internal/company-specific factors (e.g., Human resource policies) play in business growth (Chen, Hsu, and Chang, 2016)? What challenges are they confronting—and how are they addressing these challenges? How is business growth affected by top-management diversity and experiences (Hutzschenreuter and Horstkotte, 2013; Castano, Mendez, and Galindo, 2016)? How has the nature of social/economic inclusion in Asia changed over the past few years, and what opportunities and challenges is it creating for firms worldwide?

4.Multi-Level Considerations and Inclusive Growth: Are there dominant trajectories of successful (or unsuccessful) inclusive growth—and where do the foci of these trajectories lie (Stiglitz, 2016)? Are there alternative paths to profitable growth for firms, and do these vary with the nature of company’s dominant business, organizational configuration, or the company’s country of origin (Merchant, 2008)? What is the nature of tradeoffs companies have to face in their quest for inclusive growth? How ‘inclusive’ does growth have to be to make a real, sustainable impact?

SUBMISSION PROCESS

To foster a more systematic examination of the above-mentioned themes, the Faculty of Economics and Business at Universitas Sebelas Meret (Indonesia) will host its third ‘International conference on Business, Economics, and Social Sciences’ on August 3 and 4, 2016. Although a small set of selected high-quality papers from the above conference will be considered for the JABS Special issue, the Special Issue is open to all academics worldwide. Attendance at the conference is not a pre-requisite for submission to the Special Issue.

Dieleman, M., Sachs, W.M. 2008. Coevolution of Institutions and Corporations in Emerging Economies: How the Salim Group Morphed into an Institution of Suharto’s Crony Regime. Journal of Management Studies 45(7), 1274-1300.

Herrera, M.E.B. 2016. Innovation for impact: Business innovation for inclusive growth. Journal of Business Research 69, 1725-1730.

Hutzschenreuter, T., Horstkotte, J. 2013. Performance effects of international expansion processes: The moderating role of top management team experiences. International Business Review 22, 259-277.